Netanyahu Makes Secret Trip to UAE for Talks with President bin Zayed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 27, 2026, for a private meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to multiple Israeli media reports and a senior Israeli official. Netanyahu departed Ben-Gurion Airport shortly after noon on a private executive jet and landed in Abu Dhabi at 3:10 p.m., spending approximately four hours in the Emirati capital before returning to Israel at 7:10 p.m.

The Prime Minister's Office declined to provide details about the meeting, and neither Netanyahu's office nor the UAE Foreign Ministry issued an immediate official statement. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Iran was a major focus of the talks, which follow months of intense regional confrontation.

“No warning was given to the prime minister from the United Arab Emirates before 7 October.”

The visit comes weeks after a September investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz alleged that bin Zayed warned Netanyahu in late September 2023 that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major attack. The report, citing dozens of sources and documents, claimed the warning came during a 45-minute phone call roughly a week and a half before October 7 and was not passed to Israel's security chiefs.

Netanyahu's office has strongly denied the Haaretz report, stating in a statement that "no warning was given to the prime minister from the United Arab Emirates before 7 October" and calling the report part of a "sinister plot with clear political motives." The New York Times later reported it had confirmed the substance of the warning through two sources.